But their helmets, goggles and crampons attached to their shoes reveal their true identity as hardy climbers who help foreign tourists scale the country's fearsome peaks.

The Aymara women, ranging in age from 20 to 50 years old, accompany their husbands on the challenging hikes, often taking up the role as cooks and porters.

They made the two-day climb up the 19,974-foot high Huayna Potosi, located near La Paz, last month, guiding tourists through a blanket of snow and mountain mist.

They indigenous women began their climbing careers working for tourist agencies, carrying food and other equipment for the travellers to the base camp, located at 1,116 feet (5,130 meters).

'First, I was a porter, then a cook,' said 41-year-old Domitila Alana Llusco. 'But the tourists asked me what it was like up on Huayna Potosi and I had to climb up so I could find out and tell them.'

Alana recalled how she had a hard time finding appropriate gear she could afford when she started 15 years ago.

She said: 'My feet are small, there are no boots. But nothing stopped me and I have reached the peak of three mountains.'

Though they dress in traditional clothing, these mountaineers have not allowed their gender to hold them back.

Adrian Quispe, one of the mountain guides, said: 'Women also have the right to climb mountains. It's not just men who are allowed. Women of all ages can go.'

And the money is good. While the minimum wage for a housekeeper is around £120 a month, guides can earn £23 a day and the female cooks about £13 a day.

As they climb, the women wear thermal sweat suits under their traditional clothing. Only in the last part of the climb up to the top do the women remove their skirts, to prevent accidents.

They start the last part of their ascent after midnight to take advantage of the hardness of the snow, hoping to reach the top by dawn.

Some of the youngest in the group now dream of climbing even higher someday, to the top of Aconcagua, which at 22,834 feet (6,960 meters) is not only the highest peak in the Andes, but also the tallest mountain outside Asia.

-Daily mail